Gas generator for stoves and the like



J1me 1953 H. DE ANDRADE 56 GAS GENERATOR FOR STOVES AND,THE LIKE Filed Feb. 20, 1950 .W z I.

R.6 m f mn A g D. W uw H Patented June 30, 1953 2 GAS GENERATOR F OR STOVES AND' LIKE n o a Anamae S6, sac Paulo, Brazil Application February 20, 1950, Serial No.145,16

' In Brazil June 14, 1949 THE This invention is directed to the generation of a permanent gas from liquid hydrocarbon fuels for use in stoves, ranges, furnaces, kilns or other heating apparatus.

It is known to vaporize liquid fuel, such as petroleum fuels, in order to produce a vapor which can be burned in the burners of a stove or the like. In existing apparatus for this, it is necessary to burn the vapor before it has had a chance to cool and recondense. Consequently, the liquid fuel must be heated constantly while the burners are being operated, and it is impossible to store the heated vapor at atmospheric temperatures for use at a time when the liquid fuel is not being heated to vaporization tempera ture.

It is the object of the instant invention to produce an apparatus for obtaining a permanent gas from vaporized liquid fuel, which gas can be stored at atmospheric temperatures. A further object of the invention is to produce an apparatus of extreme simplicity for the generation and storage of gas, said apparatus being substantially devoid of moving parts, and fool-proof in operation.

In general, the objects of the invention are obtained by heating a vertical column of liquid fuel to vaporize the fuel. The risin vapors are passed through a catalyst and cracked into a permanent gas and residual vapor. gas and residual vapor are passed through a condenser, the residual vapor being condensed to liquid and returned to a fuel tank, while the separated gas flows to a gas tank. The apparatus is arranged to balance the weight of this condensed residual vapor against the vertical column of liquid fuel so that the separated gas can be accumulated under pressure in a gas tank without the need of mechanical pumps or other devices. Switch means actuated by the gas pressure in the gas tank automatically cuts off the vaporization of the liquid fuel when the gas pressure reaches a predetermined value.

The apparatus is more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing which diagrammatically illustrates the apparatus.

Fuel tank 2 holds liquid fuel such as fuel oil or other petroleum fuels. Fuel is drawn from the bottom of tank 2 through downward extending pipe 4 connected by a U-bend to riser B which leads to catalytic chamber 8 filled with a catalytic material If].

Pipe I2 extending downwardly from the bottom of tank 2 is continued into riser l4 and terminates in a burner I6 mounted in the bottom of cham- The mixed 2 Claims- (01. 418-103) 2 her 8. Heat from burner l6 passes into a T sh p d ater l8 surround d y cataly ic mate rial H3. 4

Pip extends from the top of chamber 8 to a condensing coil 22, the bottom outlet end 23 of which is joined to vertical pipe 24 which is continued through a U-bend 26 into a vertical portion 28 connected to the bottom of tank 2.

Portion 3E) of pipe 24 lying above outlet end 23, is continued into a gas accumulating tank 32, which, in turn, is in communication with a burner 34. A gas pressure indicator is connected to pipe portion 30.

Pipe 6 is heated electrically by coil 36, and pipe I4 is likewise heated by coil 38. These two heat- I ing coils are in circuit with a gas pressure responsive switch 40 mounted upon gas tank 32.

In operation, liquid fuel is placed in tank 2, the fuel flowing to equivalent heights in pipes 6, Hi, and 24, respectively. Heating coils 36 and 38 are turned on, and fuel in pipes 6 and I 4 becomes vaporized and rises to chamber 8. The fuel vapor in pipe I4 is ignited by applying a match to burner 16, the catalytic material [0, thus being heated from heater [8. vaporized fuel in pipe 6 passes into chamber 8 and into contact with catalytic material [0. There, by action of the catalyst, the vaporized fuel is cracked into a permanent combustible gas and a residual vaporized fuel. This mixture of gas and vaporized fuel passes to condenser 22 wherein the vaporized fuel condenses to liquid and drains into pipe 24, while the gas separates out and rises through pipe 30 into gas tank 32, where it at?- cumulates under pressure, and is available to be fed to burner 34.

When the pressure in gas tank 32 has risen to a predetermined value, pressure responsive switch 46 opens and shuts off coils 36 and 38.

The heated and expanded vapors created in pipe 6 provide sufiicient pressure for causing gas to be stored in gas tank 32 under pressure. As pipes 6 and 24 have a liquid column in them at least as high as the level of the fuel in tank 2, a liquid seal is established against the escape of generated gas from the system, up to the point where the pressure of the generated gas would displace the weight of the liquid in pipes 6 and 24, and switch 40 is operative before that pressure is reached.

The material used for catalyst [0 depends upon the type of fuel vaporized. Various catalysts for this purpose are well known for cracking petroleum vapors, including those having silica and magnesium bases.

The apparatus described is simple and eliminates all mechanically movable parts with the possible exception of the switch 40, and the valve for burner 34. As such, the apparatus is substantially fool-proof, and ideally suitable for the uses for which designed.

Having now described the means by which the objects of theinvention are obtained, I claim:

1. An apparatus for generating and storing permanent gas for use in gas burners from liquid petroleum fuel, comprising a catalytic chamber, a fuel tank positioned at a lower level than said chamber, a U-shaped pipe joining the bottoms of said fuel tank and said chamber, an electrical heating unit for heating the rising leg of said U shaped pipe whereby vaporized fuel is fed to said chamber under the pressure of vaporization, a pipe return for conductmg gas from the top of said chamber to the bottom of said fuel tank, a condenser in said pipe return mounted above the fuel tank level, a gas tank at a higher elevation than said fuel tank, means for conducting gas produced in said chamber and passed through said condenser from said return pipe adjacent the lower end of said condenser to said gas tank, switch means responsive to the gas pressure in said gas tank, and means electrically connecting said switch means to said heating unit.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1, further comprising second means for vaporizing fuel from said fuel tank, and means for burning the vaporized fuel produced by said second means to heat said catalytic chamber.

HUGO DE ANDRADE so.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,128,549 Tait Feb. 16, 1915 1,565,409 Blanchet Dec. 15, 1925 1,789,580 De Jahn Jan. 20, 1931 1,954,993 Gohr Apr. 17, 1934 2,097,489 Kiss Nov. 2, 1937 2,213,345 Marschner .Sept. 3, 1940 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND STORING PERMANENT GAS FOR USE IN GAS BURNERS FROM LIQUID PETROLEUM FUEL, COMPRISING A CATALYTIC CHAMBER, A FUEL TANK POSITIONED AT A LOWER LEVEL THAN SAID CHAMBER, A U-SHAPED PIPE JOINING THE BOTTOMS OF SAID FUEL TANK AND SAID CHAMBER, AN ELECTRICAL HEATING UNIT FOR HEATING THE RISING LEG OF SAID U-SHAPED PIPE WHEREBY VAPORIZED FUEL IS FED TO SAID CHAMBER UNDER THE PRESSURE OF VAPORIZATION, A PIPE RETURN FOR CONDUCTING GAS FROM THE TOP OF SAID CHAMBER TO THE BOTTOM OF SAID FUEL TANK, A CONDENSER IN SAID PIPE RETURN MOUNTED 